This invention relates to displays for collecting coins. More specifically, the present invention is directed to books that are capable of displaying coins that are related to their themes.
Collecting and displaying coins is a very popular hobby. Government mints all over the world produce coins for circulation in their general populations. These coins often display images that portray political or historic figures or historic or other events that are somehow related to the issuing country. In the United States, for example, penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar and whole dollar coins that display presidents, political and other historic figures are readily available.
Most recently, the United States Mint has begun issuing representative quarters for each of the 50 United States. A state specific design is displayed on one side of each such quarter. For example, the quarter that represents Delaware depicts the historic horseback ride of Caesar Rodney, the Delaware delegate to the Continental Congress who cast the deciding vote in favor of independence from Great Britain. The quarter that represents Pennsylvania depicts the statue “Commonwealth” which sits atop dome of the state building, while the quarter that represents Massachusetts features a Minuteman of the American Revolution. A familiar image of former President George Washington is displayed on the second side of each coin.
The U.S. Mint is also producing a new gold color dollar coin that depicts Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian woman who assisted the Lewis and Clark expedition. The U.S. Mint has issued numerous other similar coins. Examples include a bicentennial quarter, issued just prior to 1976, half-dollar that features John F. Kennedy and a previous dollar coin that featured Susan B. Anthony.
The United States is not the only country that issues such coins. For example, the Royal Canadian Mint is currently issuing coins with a new design each month. Themes of coins that have been issued are “The Airplane Opens the North,” “Ingenuity,” “Achievement,” and “Health.” The Royal Canadian Mint also issues coins that represent the various years of the Chinese lunar calendar, and had a program similar to that currently underway in the United States, where it issued representative coins for each of its provinces. Other countries issue coins that display political, historic and other figures and events as well.
Coins that are not used as currency are also available and are popular items for collectors. For example, tokens of all types are distributed by numerous sources. Transportation tokens may be used to gain access to public transportation services, or to cross bridges or pass through tunnels. Tokens and medallions are distributed by companies for the purpose of advertising their products. Such tokens and medallions are also available to memorialize or commemorate wars, holidays, political, social, athletic and numerous other events.
Collectors take great pride in collecting and displaying coins such as those described above. Available coin holders and displays typically include rigid sheets with coin-sized holes that are arranged in an organized pattern. The holes are sized such that the coin to be displayed can be pressed inside in a tight fit. Some coin holders are configured as folding books, with the coin-sized holes arranged on the inside of one or more of the folding surfaces. Others are simply configured as flat surfaces without covers. Coin holes are often arranged in a row and column or similar format.
While such coin holders are perfectly adequate for storing and displaying coins, theme-related displays are more appealing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,366 to Krull, et al., issued Nov. 23, 1999 discloses a map of the United States with coin-sized holes inside the borders of or next to each state. Collectors enjoy displaying coins that represent states in a map such as this.
While a map such as that described above may be useful for displaying coins that represent states or other geographic regions, it will typically not be used to display the coins from a single state or to display coins that do not relate to a geographic theme. Further, and more significantly, such a display generally does not allow for anything more than the display of coins in a manner that corresponds to their geographic location. While a limited amount of information may be provided ancillary to the display, for example, in the borders of the map, there is typically no way to provide a large amount information about the location, event or character that is displayed on the coins. There is also no way for the collector to record his or her own thoughts, observations or other information about the coins displayed. Thus, coin collectors will probably not want to use a map-type display to display coins that portray characters, historic or commemorative events or other non-geographically related themes, or to display coins when they would also like to convey or incorporate information that relates to the theme of the coin.
It is therefore desirable to provide a coin display that relates to a non-geographically related theme in an entertaining manner.
It is also desirable to provide a coin display that stores and displays a coin in an apparatus that is also capable of providing additional information about the theme displayed on the coin.